U.S. Putting Up A Good Fight Against Childhood Obesity

After decades of warnings about the rising rate of childhood obesity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some good news. A new report from the CDC suggests we’ve made some progress in the fight against childhood obesity in the nation’s youngest children – specifically those from low-income families.

The report examined geography of these children and found:

Nineteen states and the U.S. Virgin Islands saw a small but significant decline in preschoolers’ obesity rates between 2008 and 2011, according to the CDC.

Three states saw a small incline in childhood obesity rates and the rest remained unchanged.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

And the long term effects of childhood obesity are alarming:

Children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are 5 times as likely as normal-weight children to be overweight or obese as adults.